The Weekender: 1/17/2025
Gooooood Friday morning! Welcome to the weekend! (And welcome back to school for some Scott County students who haven’t been in over a week!) It’s going to be absolutely gorgeous today, with sunshine and temperatures near 50° this afternoon. That’s not too unusual for this time of year, but it’s certainly unusual this year, which is why it’ll feel even nicer than it really is!
Here’s a look at what’s happening in Scott County to get your weekend started. As always, please subscribe if you haven’t already!
Weekend Weather
☀️ We'll gradually become sunny today, and finally some mild weather. But brutally cold air is on the way!
Almanac: Sunrise/Sunset: 7:46/5:49 • Records: 65° (1974), -17° (1977) • Year-To-Date Rainfall: 1.9" (Normal: 2.9").
Details: We'll start off with some cloud cover, but should gradually become sunny today. The high temperature will push close to 50° with a light south wind. It's going to feel really nice outside today after what has been a very cold month of January!
Wet Weekend: Rain moves into the area tonight, though it won't arrive until after midnight. It'll be windy, too, with gusts to 25 mph. Rain will continue into tomorrow, along with windy conditions. Around half an inch of rain or so will be in the rain gauge as the showers taper off Saturday afternoon.
Much Colder Weather: Cold air will begin pouring back in Saturday evening, and we may see some snow showers Saturday night into Sunday. The high on Sunday will only be in the low 20s, and we'll likely drop into the single digits Sunday night. If we do, that'll be our coldest temperature recorded so far this winter. The coldest to this point was 10° last month. The high on Monday and Tuesday probably won't get out of the teens, with nighttime lows in the single digits. We'll start to warm up somewhat on Wednesday, but we may not get above freezing until Thursday.
Snow? The cold temperatures is the easy part of the forecast. It's going to be the coldest air we've seen so far this season; there isn't much doubt about that. The tough part is figuring out the precipitation aspect of the forecast. Snow showers are in the forecast for Saturday night into Sunday morning, and several models show some moderate accumulations in our area, while other models show almost nothing. The NWS in Morristown says in a forecast discussion this afternoon that some light accumulations are possible north of I-40. Don't be surprised if we see a Winter Weather Advisory issued for our area, but that won't come until Saturday sometime, in all likelihood. Then there will likely be a storm system develop in the Gulf of Mexico next week, but it's looking increasingly likely that it'll stay well to our south. That isn't surprising, given how much cold air will be in place, though the GFS model is stubbornly saying we'll see some big snow late next week. We'll see how it evolves over the next few days, but chances of a major snow middle to late next week are really low, and the forecast is currently for sunny weather through at least Thursday.
Further Out: The pattern from late next week onward is very uncertain. The GFS is stubbornly consistent in its projection that we'll have a replenishing shot of cold air arrive by Friday and keep us below freezing throughout the weekend and into early next week. The Euro is just as stubborn in its projection of much milder temperatures next weekend before a big shot of cold air drops in early next week. Either way, we may need to wait until next week's storm system becomes clear before we start to get a better handle on what the temperatures are going to be like in its aftermath.
You can always find the latest forecasts and weather analysis on our Eye To The Sky page.
The Latest
» Back to school: Oneida Special School District students returned to class for the first time since the start of Christmas break on Wednesday, but Scott County students (who went one day last week) are just now getting back to class. But it’ll be on a two-hour delay, and there’s a whole bunch of buses that won’t run (see their website for a list).
» Rails to Trails talks continue: Should the Tennessee Railroad be transformed into a recreational trail? Or should the land be sold to adjoining landowners? It’s an issue that everyone’s talking about, and we have the latest from both sides of the fight.
» Highlanders win: Scott High picked up a road win at Loudon on Thursday. Look for a story today on ihsports.net.
» New E-Edition: Our latest E-Edition was published Thursday evening. You can view it here.
Weekend Happenings
⦿ Friday: Oneida basketball will travel to Pigeon Forge for a 6 p.m. start and Scott High will travel to Cumberland Gap for a 6:30 p.m. start. Both games will be broadcast live on the IH Sports Network, beginning at 5:45 p.m.
⦿ Saturday: The Fairview Elementary School Food Pantry will be open Jan. 18 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Straight Fork Community Center. Parents, grandparents, guardians or caregivers of any child attending Fairview Elementary School are eligible to receive food. No proof of income is required.
⦿ Saturday: The God’s Grace Soup Kitchen will be Saturday, Jan. 18, at Helenwood Baptist Church Fellowship Hall, beginning at 11 a.m. and continuing as long as supplies last. The menu will me vegetable beef soup, pimento cheese sandwich and dessert. Drive through and have your food handed to you through your car window. The food is prepared by volunteers from several area churches.
⦿ Saturday: Third Saturday night worship services will be held at Lone Mountain Baptist Church (6p.m.), Capital Hill Missionary Baptist Church (6:30 p.m.), Black Creek Crossroads Missionary Baptist Church (7 p.m.), High Point United Baptist Church (7 p.m.), and House of the Lord (7 p.m.).
⦿ Sunday: Celebrate Recovery, a 12-step program designed to help with addiction, co-dependency and domestic abuse, will be hosted by Fire & Purpose Ministries from 5 pm to 8 pm at 27192 Scott Highway in Winfield. There will be food, fellowship, praise and worship. Childcare is provided.
That’s it! Have a great weekend, and look for The Daybreaker in your email inbox Monday morning as you get ready to head off to school or work.
And if you have an event coming up or news to share, reach out to us by email at newsroom@ihoneida.com or visit indherald.com/community-calendar-2.
